Dallas Stars Blog

Doug Armstrong, David Poile and Dale Tallon named finalists for GM of the Year

Here is the press release (Armstrong is former GM of the Stars and has used some former Stars like Jamie Langenbrunner, Jason Arnott and Ken Hitchcock to build the Blues this season):

ARMSTONG, POILE AND TALLON NAMED FINALISTS FOR NHL GENERAL MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARD

NEW YORK (April 24, 2012) — Doug Armstrong of the St. Louis Blues,
David Poile of the Nashville Predators and Dale Tallon of the Florida
Panthers are the three finalists for the 2011-12 NHL General Manager of the
Year Award, the National Hockey League announced today.

Voting for this award was conducted among the 30 Club General
Managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. The
winner will be announced Wednesday, June 20, during the 2012 NHL Awards
from Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. The 2012 NHL Awards will be
broadcast by NBC Sports Network in the United States and CBC in Canada.

Following are the finalists, in alphabetical order, for NHL General
Manager of the Year:

Doug Armstrong, St. Louis Blues

Armstrong oversaw a Blues renaissance reflected by their 49-22-11
record and first Central Division title since 1999-2000. Adding to a
talented nucleus of Blues draft picks that includes David Backes, T.J.
Oshie, David Perron and Alex Pietrangelo, Armstrong made the signing of the
summer in unheralded free agent goaltender Brian Elliott, who led the NHL
with a 1.56 goals-against average and .940 save percentage. He also
acquired veteran forwards Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner. After the
Blues started the season 6-7-0, Armstrong made a change behind the bench by
bringing in 500-game winner and Stanley Cup champion head coach Ken
Hitchcock, who led St. Louis to a 43-15-11 record.

David Poile, Nashville Predators

A season after Nashville won its first-ever Stanley Cup Playoff
series, Poile’s work helped the Predators (48-26-8) earn a postseason berth
for the seventh time in eight seasons and an opportunity for more
milestones. As in past years, the Predators’ underlying strength was its
deep roster of players drafted and developed by the organization, including
star goaltender Pekka Rinne, leading scorers Martin Erat and David Legwand,
and defensemen Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Kevin Klein. Poile negotiated the
late-season return of star forward Alex Radulov and also acquired top-six
forward Andrei Kostitsyn, shutdown center Paul Gaustad and veteran
defenseman Hal Gill prior to the trade deadline.

Dale Tallon, Florida Panthers

Tallon’s comprehensive off-season overhaul was a runaway success as
the Panthers (38-26-18) captured the first division title in franchise
history and earned a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time
in 12 years. He named Kevin Dineen to his first NHL head coaching
assignment last June and followed with a flurry of acquisitions that
included forwards Kris Versteeg, Tomas Fleischmann, Sean Bergenheim and
Tomas Kopecky, defensemen Brian Campbell and Ed Jovanovski and goaltender
Jose Theodore. In-season acquisitions of veteran forwards Mikael Samuelsson
, John Madden, Marco Sturm, Wojtek Wolski and Jerred Smithson bolstered
Florida’s playoff drive.

Announcement Schedule

The NHL is announcing the three finalists for each of its awards
through April 30.

Tuesday, April 24

Masterton Trophy (perseverance and dedication to hockey) and General
Manager of the Year